The game will be available on gamer sites such as games.msn.com and bigfishgames.com and will cost $8 for a session lasting up to 10 hours. A retail launch is planned for next year.
At their height the US band had multi-million selling hits including 'Keep on Lovin' You'. However REO Speedwagon's profile has been a little lower since and the band has principally toured old hits.
Now, in what the band claims is a first, it is releasing a video game 'REO Speedwagon: Find your own way home' to support the new album.
The role-player-game's plot is centred around finding the band's lead vocalist.
Playing the game will lead people to find incentives such as a voucher code to receive 25% off the band's latest album, tickets to see REO Speedwagon in concert and a chance to meet members backstage.
REO Speedwagon is not the first band to launch a computer game. In 2002, Mike Oldfield, best-known for his 70s instrumental album Tubular Bells launched a virtual reality game 'Tres Lunas' on an album of the same name.
The game featured music from the album. The player is challenged to travel around the world to find seven rings, which enable them to hear more of Oldfield's music.